When You Wish Upon A Star: Keith Jarrett

Thu, 01/31/2019 - 8:47pm
Written by GeorgeWhitty
Topics: jazz piano

Let’s have a look at a truly inimitable pianist this week, the incredible Keith Jarrett.  A very controversial figure in the “jazz press”, which often focusses on his lecturing the audience about making noise, or the temperature in the hall, and so forth.  As a musician, I focus on the crazy lyricism of his playing, the instantly identifiable touch no matter the piano, the stunning depth of his left hand and the harmonic approach that nobody else has even really attempted to bring to this level.  More than any other jazz pianist, Keith doesn’t just “voice-lead”, try to get the voices to make sense as polyphony, he actually has gotten to the point where he can improvise a 6-part chorale;  all 6 voices being perfect melodies unto themselves, and his harmonic thing really stands alone in that way.  He often appends a gorgeous improvised coda onto the standards he plays that takes them to an entirely new level, just jaw-droopingly beautiful.  But in today’s piece, have a listen to his great off-the-cuff improvised intro to “When You Wish Upon A Star”, and check out the incredible elasticity of his TIME as he plays the tune.  As I’ve said in our lessons, the time in jazz isn’t really a grid to conform to, but rather something to play off of, or to play against, one pole to stretch your own groove over.  And Keith is a master!

Notes from a giant

Mon, 02/26/2018 - 1:39pm
Written by GeorgeWhitty
Topics: jazz, jazz piano, Piano

I have always really loved this interview, with Andre Previn interviewing Oscar Peterson.  When I was about 15, Oscar came through Oregon to play, but he was playing in Portland, 220 miles from my home town.  And my folks weren't up to driving all the way up there for it, so I organized it as a school field trip for my high school swing choir.  And it's still one of the best concerts I ever saw, Oscar, Joe Pass, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Basie band (who totally blew me away) all at once.  And like a lot of musicians, Oscar was sort of an enigma;  what could he possibly have been like as a person?  Well, here he is!  Herbie Hancock told me once, during a conversation about Herbie's technophilia (he always has the latest and greatest;  he probably already has the iPhone 13) that Oscar put him to shame with his love of things technical.  There are some YouTubes of Oscar in his home studio playing synths, which are fun.  But in this interview, Andre Previn (who's also a scary jazz pianist himself, though best known as a classical conductor) interviews Oscar in a very playful way, and the insights are priceless.  It's like a master class, and Oscar is at the peak of his powers.  And toward the end, the two of them play together, and THAT is also really cool!  Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIW24bySbT4

The Joy of Jazz, captured in a single image

Tue, 02/13/2018 - 11:58am
Written by GeorgeWhitty

Just returned from the Jazz Cruise;  there’s a few blog posts worth of insight to post from THAT extravaganza.  But I’ll just start with this great pic of Brandon Goldberg, who sat in with a bunch of bands on the cruise and just tore it up.  I was on with the Brecker Brothers Band Reunion, which was a huge blast, and on the very last night, we played the very last show, at 10:30 PM.  Brandon came by and sat in on the first tune, played his *** off, and it was such a kick to watch him play on my gear that I started taking some pics.  This picture, and his totally unbridled joy at burning out on the piano, I think reminded ALL of us on the cruise of the huge fun it is when we first learn to burn improvising on an instrument.  It sure reminded me;  on a good night it STILL feels like this, like the spigot is on, the “fatbergs” are cleared (you’ll have to Google that one, as I don’t even wan to go there on an AW blog post!), and things are flowing with the right kind of energy behind them.  Oh, and there’s one more thing about Brandon Goldberg:

 

He’s 11.

 

How many great jazz musicians can you fit on a stoop?

Tue, 01/23/2018 - 6:14pm
Written by GeorgeWhitty

Just a quick post to alert you all that there's a really great little internet feature on an incredible, famous photo that was taken in Harlem in 1958 that featured about 60 of the greatest jazz musicians of that era and some before.  You might have seen this iconic picture before, but the New York Daily News has taken it a really great step further in this interactive feature:  Click on any of the musicians in the photo at this link, and you can hear a clip of their music!  Amazing;  what a wealth of talent gathered on those steps that day (Count Basie got tired of standing so he sat on the curb, and a bunch of kids joined him, one of whom kept playing with his hat while they were trying to take the pic).  Enjoy;  1958 was truly a vintage year for great jazz!:

http://interactive.nydailynews.com/2016/08/story-behind-great-day-in-har...